Two-Thirds of French Concerned For Their Own Safety In Their Everyday Lives

A man holding a knife in his hand ready to attack a man. Crime is on the rise.
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Chris Tomlinson

Two-thirds of French people say they are concerned over their own safety in their everyday lives and believe general security in France has declined in recent years.

A poll released this week by the Elabe Institute has revealed that as many as 67 per cent of French people say they often worry for their own safety, while 68 per cent say that the security situation in the country has deteriorated.

Few French people believe the security situation is improving under the government of President Emmanuel Macron at just four per cent, while 28 per cent say there has been no change, the French broadcaster BFMTV reports.

A total of 15 per cent of the respondents to the poll said they had been a victim of assault, theft, or burglary in the last two years, while 29 per cent said they have a relative who has been a victim.

Supporters of populist Marine Le Pen and conservative pundit Eric Zemmour reported they were most often concerned about their own safety but even 75 per cent of President Macron’s own supporters say they also often had the same concerns.

Just 30 per cent stated that they trusted President Macron could tackle security issues in France, while 38 per cent said they would put their trust in Ms Le Pen.

Insecurity and crime have become major issues in France in recent years, with some predicting that the country may risk falling into civil conflict such as French General Pierre de Villiers, the former chief of staff of the French armed forces, who stated in 2020 that growing urban violence and Islamist radicals were driving the country to civil war.

“Let’s not kid ourselves with illusions about confinement, which is like a lid on the pot: the current climate is gloomy at best, eruptive at worst, in any case very unstable. Everywhere, poverty and anger are increasing,” De Villiers said.

“France has been at peace for 75 years. We soldiers do not want war. We know what it is. My fear is civil war. When we behead a teacher in front of a college or when we murder three people who come to pray in a church,” he said.

Xavier Bertrand, the current president of the regional council of the Hauts-de-France region, expressed a similar opinion last year, saying, “There is today a real risk of civil war.”

“The president of the Republic must do everything to avoid it, and this requires above all the end of crimes not being punished. Any sanction must result in a sentence at the end,” he said.

Last year, a letter was published and signed by 20 former French generals and around 1,000 former and active-duty French military members who denounced growing insecurity in France, warning the military may have to step in.

A poll released shortly after the letter was published revealed that nearly half of the French public would support the military restoring order in France, even if the elected government at the time did not request them to.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

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